Bar Harbor Hotels and Boarding Houses
a project of
V. F. Thomas Co. - P. O. Box 84 - Hulls Cove, Maine 04644
info@vfthomas.com
(updated 3 August 2024)
Welcome
to the Hotels and Boarding Houses in Bar Harbor home page, part of the Mount Desert Island Cultural History Project.
Purpose of this web page:
The purpose of this web page is to present information about hotels and boarding housesin Bar Harbor, primarily through the mid-1900s. References in parentheses are to advertisements in local newspapers. To view the advertisement, click on the newspaper citation.
How to contribute:
All information (including images) should be e-mailed to info@vfthomas.com or sent by traditional mail to Bar Harbor Hotels and Boarding Houses at the address at the top of this page.
1881 July 14:
“There are now sixteen good hotels at Bar Harbor.” (Mount Desert Herald, p. 3, col. 1)
“All the hotel keepers at Bar Harbor, with a single exception, are said to own their houses and the land on which they stand.” (Mount Desert Herald, p. 3, col. 1)
“Our register of summer visitors at Bar Harbor and vicinity is prepared with considerable care and we trust the various hotel men will give us their assistance in making it as full and correct as possible.” (Mount Desert Herald, p. 3, col. 1)
Agamont House - east side of north end of Main Street
Atlantic House - south side of Douglass Avenue (now [2014] Atlantic Avenue)
1870: built
1873: burned
1874: rebuilt
1881 July 14: proprietor - J. H. Douglass; clerk - G. E. Patterson
1883: purchased by Elihu T. Hamor; note in Mount Desert Herald, 24 May 1883, page 3, column 2
1887: purchased by Miss Mary L. Balch (Hancock County Registry of Deeds book 213, page 111, and book 215, pages 522–524) and named The Louisburg
no later than 1901: photograph of hotel
1911: leased by J. A. Sherrard; article (part 1, part 2, part 3) in The Bar Harbor Record, 15 March 1911, page 5, column 1
later leased by L. C. Prior
1916: operated by the Misses Healey
1921: purchased by Lafayette Hotel Corporation and named The Lorraine
1936 March 18: foreclosure by The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
1938: auction sale of contents; advertisement in The Bar Harbor Times, Thursday, 5 May 1938, page 3, columns 1–2
1939: torn down
1941: land divided into three lots and sold; article in Bar Harbor Times, Thursday, 27 March 1941, page 1, column 1
Bay View - corner of Main Street and Mount Desert Street (= site of what is now [2014] the village green)
1868: built for Mr. Hamor and Mr. Young
1873: replaced by the Grand Central Hotel (q.v.)
Belmont Hotel - near corner of Mt. Desert Street and Kebo Street
1879: built
1881 July 14: proprietor - J. C. Manchester
1886 July 6: proprietor - J. C. Manchester; clerk - J. Pearl Manchester
1886 July 6: advertisement in The Daily Herald
1947: burned
Birch Tree Inn
1881 July 14: proprietor - [J.] Andrew Rodick
Central House, The - 60 Cottage Street (at corner of High Street)
1887: established
2012: The Central House
DeGregoire Hotel - corner of Eden Street and West Street
ca. 1892: construction began for DeGrasse Fox
ca. 1895: purchased by George Wescott
[year?]: purchased by W. R. Lee who added a wing
1907: opened by W. R. Lee
1909: reshingled; note in The Bar Harbor Record, Wednesday, 20 October 1909, page 5, column 2
1947: burned
Deering House
1881 July 14: proprietor - Charles Higgins
1887 October 20: “S. H. Rodick has moved the Deering House to its new site on Main Street ... .” (Bar Harbor Record, page 5, column 5)
Exchange Hotel - south side of Mount Desert Street
1881: proprietors - the Misses Shannon
Grand Central Hotel - corner of Main Street and Mount Desert Street (= site of what is now [2014] the village green)
1873: built
1881 July 14: proprietors - R. Hamor and sons; clerk - S. P. Stockbridge; “The Grand Central has been refurnished [a]nd forty sleeping rooms added this season.” (Mount Desert Herald, 14 July 1881, p. 3)
1892: purchased by Johnston Livingston
1899: purchased by town of Bar Harbor
Greeley House - West Street (#91 in 1919)
1919: under new management (Mrs. Nellie Billings); advertisement in The Bar Harbor Times, Saturday, 19 April 1919, page 5, column 6
Hamor House - near corner of Cottage and Main Streets
1864: built for James Hamor
Hotel Des Isle - Newton Way, west of Main Street and south of Mt. Desert Street
1881: built
1881 July 14: proprietor - E. G. DesIsle; clerk - J. Ball; “The new Hotel Des Isle is nicely furnished and promises to be a very popular [h]ouse.” (Mount Desert Herald, 14 July 1881, p. 3)
1897: renamed Maine Central Hotel
1900: torn down; “The hotel Des Isle has been levelled [sic] to the ground, and naught remains but a pile of lumber of what was once a popular hotel.” (Bar Harbor Record, 10 January 1900, p. 5, col. 2)
Hotel Hamilton School Street
1881 July 14: proprietor - George W. Hamilton
1881 July 14: advertisement in Mount Desert Herald
Kebo House - Kebo Street
1883 July 5: advertisement ofintent to open in Mount Desert Herald
Lookout House - north side of Eagle Lake Road
1881 July 14: proprietor - J. Salisbury
Lorraine, The - see Atlantic House
Louisburg, The - see Atlantic House
Lynam House - north side of Mount Desert Street, between Holland Avenue and Roberts Avenue
1881 July 14: proprietor - John Lynam; clerk - F. C. Lynam
1907: purchased by Dr. C. C. Morrison
1925 May 5: purchased by Levi Franck; article (part 1, part 2) in The Bar Harbor Times, Wednesday, 6 May 1925, page 1, column 6
Maine Central Hotel - see Hotel Des Isle
Malvern Hotel - Kebo Street
1882: built for DeGrasse Fox
1910: purchased by Mrs. Morris Jesup
1911: purchased by Thomas De Witt Cuyler
1924: purchased by Malvern Hotel Company Inc.
1930: purchased by Chester Wescott
1947: burned
Marlborough, The (also Marlborough Hotel) - Main Street, opposite Cottage Street
1892: built for Charles Higgins
1905: purchased by Martin Roberts
New Florence - see the The Porcupine
Newport House - east of Main Street, just south of what is now [2014] Agamont Park
1869: built
1881 July 14: proprietor - William M. Roberts; clerk - E. W. Young
1938: torn down
Ocean House
1870: built
1881 July 14: proprietor - Samuel L. Higgins
1973: [torn down?]
1881 July 14: advertisement in Mount Desert Herald
Parker House
1881 (August 13): proprietor - E. [?] Parker
Porcupine, The (also called Hotel Porcupine) - Main Street, opposite Mount Desert Street
1887: built
1906: purchased by Miss T. E. Martin and renamed the New Florence
1917: purchased by Thomas Jones and Thomas Phelps
1918 August 30: burned; article (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) in The Bar Harbor Times, Saturday, 31 August 1918, page 1, column 7 (and continued on page 4, columns 1 and 2)
Rockaway House - east of Main Street, eastern side of what is now [2014] Agamont Park
1870: built
1881 July 14: proprietor - Tobias L. Roberts
ca. 1916: torn down
Rodick House - west side of Main Street
1866: built
1874: expanded
1881 July 14: proprietors - D. Rodick and sons; clerk - E. W. Taft; “Mr. E. W. Taft, the clerk at the Rodick House, has looked after the comfort of the many guests of that hotel for six seasons before the present. ... The Rodick House is fast filling up with all-summer guests. They come early in the season, stay late in the fall, and are sure to come again the next year. There is no more homelike and comfortable hotel at Bar Harbor.” (Mount Desert Herald, 14 July 1881, page 3)
1881 July 14: advertisement in Mount Desert Herald
1881–1882: expanded
1886 July 6: “largest hotel in Maine”; proprietors - D. Rodick & sons; advertisement in The Daily Herald
1906 September 3: contents auctioned; advertisement in The Bar Harbor Record, Wednesday, 29 August 1906, page 5, columns 4–6
1906: torn down
St. Sauveur Hotel - north side of Mount Desert Street
1870: designed by John Clark; built
1880: annex added
1881 July 14: proprietor - F. J. Alley; clerk - D. W. Bunker
1881: burned
1882: rebuilt
1920 June 23: opening for the season; announcement in The Bar Harbor Times
1945: torn down
summer boarding house
1881: proprietor - A. F. Higgins
summer boarding house - Salisbury Cove
1881: proprietor - T. S. Liscomb
summer boarding house
1881: proprietor - [A. J. or J. A.?] Rodick
summer boarding house
1881: proprietor - C. A. Wallace 2nd
Summit House - top of Green (now Cadillac) Mountain
spring 1883: built; designed by architect Wilfred E. Mansur of Bangor, Maine
1884: burned
1885: replaced by larger hotel; designed by Wilfred E. Mansur of Bangor, Maine; built by John E. Clark of Bar Harbor, Maine
1896: torn down
Wayside Inn - west of Eden Street
1881: proprietor - Mrs. R. G. Higgins
West End Hotel - south side of West Street
1878-1879: built
1881 July 14: proprietors - O. M. Shaw and son; clerk - C. W. Wormell
1881 August 13: cashier - F. W. Adams
1900: torn down; “Mr. C. B. Dalton of Dalton & Co. Portland, who bought the West End hotel was registered at the Porcupine Monday [8 January 1900].” (Bar Harbor Record, Wednesday, 10 January 1900, p. 5, col. 3)
“Messrs Dalton & Co., of Portland, who bought the West End hotel a short time ago, put a force of men at work Tuesday [9 January 1900], taking it down. ... It is estimated that there is 500,000 feet of lumber in the building and 600 windows and doors. The principal part of the lumber will be carted to the wharf and shipped by vessel to Portland where it will be used either in constructing another hotel at Cape Elizabeth or else in the erection of cottages there. As will be seen from an advertisement on another page there will be a large amount of material to be disposed of, and those wanting kindling wood will have a chance to get a liberal supply at a reasonable price.” (Bar Harbor Record, Wednesday, 10 January 1900, p. 5, col. 3)
“Charles C. Linscott, while at work on the West End hotel last Friday [12 January 1900] afternoon, met with quite a severe accident. He was engaged in tearing off the clapboards with a chisel, and thinking to accelerate matters substituted a shovel for the chisel. In the use of this in some way he leaned back too far and losing his balance fell on to the roof of the veranda. Even here he did not realize his danger, but the roof being covered with ice he began to slip. There being nothing for him to catch hold of, he continued sliding until suddenly he fell over the edge. The railing of the verander [sic] underneath projects out some few feet further than the roof and in his fall Mr. Linscott struck across it on his stomach. The railing gave way and he fell over backwards striking on the rocks below. No bones were broken but his ankle was badly sprained and he suffers considerably from the shake up. He is lame all over so he can hardly move. He will be confined to the house for about a month.” (Bar Harbor Record, Wednesday, 17 January 2000, p. 5, cols. 3 and 4)
Willowhome - Ansel H. Leland house, Hull's Cove (business card)
operated by Clara Leland (daughter of Ansel H. and Chastena M. (Hamor) Leland) and a “Miss Higgins”